Upanishads · Varāha 4.25
॥
Devanāgarī
यस्य नाहंकृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते । कुर्वतोऽकुर्वतो वापि स जीवन्मुक्त उच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
yasya nāhaṃkṛto bhāvo buddhiryasya na lipyate | kurvato'kurvato vāpi sa jīvanmukta ucyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यस्य न अहं-कृतः भावःyasya na ahaṃ-kṛtaḥ bhāvaḥfor whom there is no appropriated state
बुद्धिः यस्य न लिप्यतेbuddhiḥ yasya na lipyatewhose intellect is not stained
कुर्वतः अ-कुर्वतः वा अपिkurvataḥ a-kurvataḥ vā apiwhether acting or not acting
सः जीवत्-मुक्तः उच्यतेsaḥ jīvat-muktaḥ ucyatethat one is called liberated while living
Translation
"For whom there is no appropriated state, whose intellect is not stained — whether acting or not acting — that one is called liberated while living."
Version
ff889bc55048 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse is an almost verbatim echo of the Gita: yasya nahankrito bhavo buddhir yasya na lipyate; hatvapi sa iman lokan na hanti na nibadhyate (18.17). Its translation is: "for whom there is no appropriated state, whose intellect is not stained, — even having slain these worlds, that one neither slays nor is bound." Worth noting is that the verse here takes the first half verbatim and replaces the second: instead of "even having slain," it stands "whether acting or not acting."
This substitution is, in my view, for the better, for the Gita's verse, taken out of the narrative, reads badly and is often cited badly. Let us say briefly of it, since it has resurfaced here. This verse is spoken to a warrior on the field of battle, obliged to fight by his position, and spoken of a single case: the fulfillment of a duty one cannot avoid.
It is no license to kill, and has never been so understood within the tradition itself; and anyone who cites it outside the narrative uses it in bad faith. Let us add what is said in substance. It says: ahankrito bhavah, "an appropriated state"; and of the word abhimana and the appropriation of the spiritual, discussed when reading the third chapter (3.23).
That is, what binds is not the action, but ascribing it to oneself; and hence the measure of freedom is determined not by the quantity of deeds, but by whose they are counted. The Vaishnava side states this through nimitta-matram, "be merely an instrument" (Gita 11.33).